Stressing she was speaking in a personal capacity, she told the BBC: “If I look in the mirror and think I am obese, I think I am less worried (than) if I think I am fat.”

Too many staff working in the NHS were worried about using the term, Ms Milton said, but suggested it could help encourage “personal responsibility”.

She added: “At the end of the day you cannot do it for them. People have to have the information.”

It comes as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) publishes guidelines on pregnancy, saying NHS staff are dealing with “an epidemic of obesity” among pregnant women.

Also yesterday, the Government confirmed it is ditching plans for a review of the smoking ban, which could have seen it extended to pub doorways and beer gardens.

Ms Milton said there would be no review as promised by the previous Government following legislation in 2007.

The issue of whether the ban should be extended to beer gardens and pub doorways was expected to have formed part of the review.

“We are not rolling back the smoking ban, nor are we deploying austerity as an excuse for deregulation,” Ms Milton told a gathering of health experts in London.

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